My Nonprofit Reviews

gerriehope

As a recent retiree, I relish the opportunity to devote my time in support of those who are helping to protect our planet. An important aspect of this is the research being done on the botanical environment as we know it today and as we have known it in prior generations.
My responsibility as a volunteer is to help the Academy catalog its astonishing inventory of plant specimens. The work I do on day-to-day basis is not glamorous; it's fundamental and can be tedious. But as I enter data for each plant specimen, I feel honored to play even a small role in the continuum between what esteemed botanists have revealed over the past two centuries and the knowledge that we are gaining to help protect and preserve important botanical species.

I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...

Through the collaborative efforts of groups of volunteers, previously stagnant projects--such as loan requests or cataloging-- have been effectively completed.

If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...

Because volunteers come with many skills and talents and volunteer efforts are critical to the productivity and success of the Academy, I'd like to see a better mechanism for assessing and leveraging the broad range of skills volunteers bring

What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...

Working behind the scenes with active botanists, learning about botany and the processes associated with botanical research.

The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...

A very diverse group of individuals but with common values and goals.

If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...

Invest in modernizing the behind-the-scenes scientific facilities and activities that comprise 80% of the Academy's overall mission.

Ways to make it better...

Volunteer assignments were defined and assigned more effectively.

In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...

Lack of financial resources for adequate research support staff or to invest in improvements to the most fundamental aspects of the work space.

One thing I'd also say is that...

Very few other organizations are dedicated to tackling the very important work the Academy is doing from a research perspective. If it's not being done here, it